Coach Burkholder used football to transform boys into young men

A local sports icon, Robert Melvin Burkholder died on Dec. 13 at Alpine Valley Home in Lebanon. He was 90.

He also was a positive male role model for hundreds of local youths.

Steve Bleyer, a 54-year-old resident of South Lebanon, said as a youth he was profoundly affected by Coach Burkholder.

“His positivity touched me and other kids,” said Bleyer. “He was obviously a powerful part of my life. He reached us in a positive way. He showed us how to respect each other. When I think of him, I think of fairness and respect. I wanted to be successful for him, like I appreciate everything he’s done for me, and I want to make him proud.”

Bob Burkholder was the husband of Justina Brubaker and the father of five, Robert Jr., Kathy, Tom, Lisa, and Kevin.

“Obviously, I was sad to hear about it,” said Bleyer, who played midget football for Burkholder, lived in the same neighborhood with him, and eventually coached with him (and against him). “He was a role model for me. I actually followed in his coaching path, and I coached for 20 years. He showed a lot of interest in the kids, and he expected us to do a good job or give a good effort.

“When people coached with him, they stayed with him. They stayed with him for years. He wasn’t a micro-manager. He taught players and coaches. He had a positive outlook about everything. He had some emotion, but he was never out of control. He was a different breed of coach. He didn’t demand respect, he commanded it, just because of who he was. With all the kids I played with, no one ever disrespected him.”

A 1953 graduate of Lebanon High School, Burkholder coached midget football in Lebanon County for 50 years, from the early 1950s to the early 2000s. He was one of the founding forces behind the now-defunct Lebanon Valley Midget Football League, was the architect of the wildly successful Ebenezer midget football program, and coached at Cornwall.

Burkholder was a recipient of the Central Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame’s community service award.

“He’s one of the best coaches I ever had,” said Bleyer. “He showed empathy, but he was hard-nosed when he had to be. He was old school. One time I scored a touchdown, and I did a Billy ‘White Shoes’ Johnson dance in the end zone. He pulled me aside and said, ‘We’ll never do that again.’ He didn’t yell at me. But I never did it again.”

“He made it fun. I looked forward to going and the kids kept coming back. He was extended family for a lot of kids. He was a father figure. You were treated very well. Some kids went there for an escape. It was a team, and he made it feel like a family.”

“They’re (kids) fun to coach,” Burkholder told this reporter during an interview with The Lebanon Daily News in 1992. “They listen and they do what they’re told. I must say I have never had a kid who was a problem. One of the reasons is that in football you make it tougher on anyone who gives you trouble.”

During his playing days at Lebanon High, he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. In addition to his love for family and football, “Coach Burky” entertained an interest in racing homing pigeons and was an enthusiastic tropical fish hobbyist.

For many years, he operated Bob Burkholder’s Food Market, a third-generation, family-owned store in Lebanon.

“He loved the game, but he loved coaching kids more,” said Bleyer. “He had a very understanding wife to do it that long. The family was always behind him and they took great pride in it.

“I don’t ever remember him missing practices or games. The games were on Sundays, and I think that suited his schedule. He was always there. That was another quality for him. There were never excuses of not showing up.”

Many of the football players that Burkholder produced went on to star on the high school and college level. Burkholder derived enjoyment from following the exploits of his former players.

“He taught kids that good things happen when you work hard,” said Bleyer. “He taught them how to win and lose gracefully and that when you work toward a common goal there can be happiness in success. He tried to put a positive spin on everything. Everything was always opportunities to be better. He changed the lives of hundreds, and he left his mark on thousands.

“I think he just wanted to give back and he enjoyed passing on to the next generation. The father figure part only came later. He just enjoyed being around kids. I think it kept him young. He never judged. If you were a good person, he was your friend. I don’t know exactly why he gave it up. I think he wanted to spend more time with his wife, and everything was changing.”

More than a decade after Burkholder retired from volunteer coaching, the Lebanon Valley Midget Football League disbanded.

“I never talked to him about it,” said Bleyer. “He was there on the ground floor, and he was one of the original people (in the league). He was respected throughout the whole league by the other coaches. It couldn’t have sat well with him. A lot of teams were neighborhood teams. That’s all gone now. It’s not about family and neighborhoods anymore. It was more about participation and brotherhood and being a part of the community.”